Synopses & Reviews
A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses.
Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job a million girls would die for. Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.
The Devil Wears Prada gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about The Boss from Hell. Narrated in Andrea's smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda's children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day--and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a milliongirls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.
Review
"[A] one-note but on-the-money kiss-and-tell debut....Weisberger writes with humor and authority, but her plot circles like a whirlpool and by the time Andrea's ready to face some hard choices, it's difficult to care. Her exhaustion is contagious." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Weisberger's characters are all uniformly shallow and two-dimensional, and she seems to be worshiping this lifestyle at the same time that she is supposedly skewering it. However...Weisberger's dishy style will appeal to many readers." Kathleen Hughes, Booklist
Review
"Weisberger manages to get off some funny lines and deft observations of the lookist culture, but you have the feeling they came from her co-workers at Vogue magazine....Andrea's aura of self-importance is almost enough to make you sympathize with the Prada-wearing devil herself..." Kate Betts, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[T]he novel is somewhat trite and predictable, as well as saccharine and maudlin when it comes to the scenes about Andrea's personal life (not to mention repetitive in places and longer than it should be and sloppily edited). But wow, will it make a great movie!" Jennifer Krauss, Newsday
Review
"A deliciously witty and gossipy first novel." Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Lauren Weisberger graduated from Cornell University in 1999. She lives in New York City.